Stories of Faith - Episode 48

Pastor Kayode MOMOLOSHO (1960-2009)

IN MEMORY OF A GREAT MAN THAT LIVED FOR JUST 49 YEARS, BUT DID WONDERS FOR THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE BY THE GOVERNMENT IN HILLS OF KOMA IN ADAMAWA STATE, NIGERIA

"No Epitaph is Golden and Remembered by Men like the One written in the heart of Men."- Pastor Kayode MOMOLOSHO

Proverbs 10:7 - The memory of the just is blessed: but the name of the wicked shall rot.

Odds Against Pastor Kayode MOMOLOSHO

He was a Missionary Extraordinaire in Koma Hills of Jada Local Government Area of Adamawa State, Nigeria. He was the Pioneer Chief Project Coordinator of The King's Call @ Koma Hills. He faced many challenges in carrying out the divine assignments given to him. Some of the challenges included the following;-

• He had to live in an unfamiliar land and among strange people far away from home.
• There was no road into Koma Hills and he trekked 16 hours from Yola to Koma Hills and back to Yola many times.
• He suffered from river blindness because there was no good drinking water. This made him blind in one eye.
• He walked hundreds of kilometers in between the 39 communities in Koma Hills preaching the gospel of God to the Koma people.
• Some of the communities are located on hills and he once fell from a hill on one of his trip. He was seriously injured and had to be taken to the theater for surgery.
• He had numerous accidents​ on motorcycles. At death, he had gone through 7 surgeries and was fitted with plastic knee caps and plastic ribs. He once said jokingly​ that when he gets to heaven, he will tell Paul the Apostle about the many motorcycle wrecks he suffered.
• He had to engage an interpreter to communicate with the Koma people.
• As at 1996 when he arrived Koma Hills, the Koma people were not wearing clothes but using leaves and animal skin to cover their nakedness.
• He was accused of trafficking children by the Government and he was arrested.
• The Koma people had the culture of burying a baby whose mother dies.
• Having twin children was a taboo and such children were killed.
• Females had their two frontal teeth removed before getting married between 12-14 years.
• Koma people were predominantly idol worshippers.
• A pregnant woman must not be assisted in the delivery process. After delivery, she must clean herself and prepare her first meal successfully​, if not, she will be regarded as a witch.
• Boys are circumcised in the early teenage years using local methods which sometimes resulted in deaths and many more challenges.

Life Application

Despite of the numerous challenges he encountered, he overcame them. He overcame the challenges in the following ways:

✓ The King's Call @ Koma Hills clothed over 90% of the Koma People with 5 trailer loads of clothing donated by the members of Living Faith Church (aka Winners' Chapel International) under the Leadership of Bishop David Oyedepo.

✓ The King's Call @ Koma Hills dug 10 motorized boreholes, 10 wells and constructed an infiltration gallery thus supplying portable water to many Communities in Koma Hills. This has made river blindness, which use to be prevalent in Koma Hills, a thing of the past.

✓ Rapha Mercy Centre provides free Medical care to the Koma People free of charge till date. This had reduced drastically the high mortality rate in Koma land.

✓ A free Boarding House School and 3 other Day Schools are currently running in Koma Hills for the education of the Koma Children. The day Schools serve the children a meal in school daily.

✓ Pastor Kayode Momolosho led the indigenes in constructing the first road which connected the community to other places. The road was constructed with hoes and cutlasses.

✓ Many of the Pioneer pupils of Dominion Academy, Mani were taken outside the state for further studies. Today, many of them are graduates including a First Class Graduate of Landmark University (LMU).

✓ Dominion International Junior Academy, Mani (DIJA) has also graduated many students from its Junior Secondary Arm of the school.

✓ Koma Children are not only receiving formal education but they are also been taught the word of God.

✓ The allegation of Child trafficking was dropped when he brought back home successfully all the children who were schooling in different parts of the country.

Conclusion

Pastor Kayode MOMOLOSHO didn't just survive in the midst of challenges but he succeeded against all odds. God's Grace and help was available for him.

Source: https://thiscrossroad.com.ng/rising-above-challenges-pastor-kayode-momolosho-1960-2009/

Stories of Faith - Episode 47

Chris Delvan narrates:

Pa Joshua Ekpikhe, a great evangelist in Northern Nigeria died recently. He was from Akwa Ibom. He built Baraka Press, the only press that publishes the gospel in Hausa. He told me the story, he said the Lord told him to leave Minneapolis and go and preach in the West Coast. And he said to God, but you know I don’t have money and you know that my host, his father died and he inherited everything. And the Lord said, “don’t ask him”. So, he told his host, I’m going to California, and the host said “for real… let me take you to the airport”. And he drove him to the airport. And the host said, “are you ok” and he said, “I’m ok, everything is perfect”. And the host dropped him at the airport and left him. And Pa Ekpikhe entered the airport and joined the line to buy ticket without a dime in his pocket. And there were two people before him and the lady at the ticket counter. And there was a man behind him reading a newspaper. As he was going forward, the second to the last person was just attended to and the last person was there at the counter and he started to sweat, a cold sweat. And then he said, somebody puts his hand in my back pocket and placed an envelope in it. Meanwhile, the man behind him was still reading his newspaper. He looked and pulled out the envelope carefully and there was enough money to pay for his flight to and fro.

Stories of Faith - Episode 46

Chris Delvan narrates:

I met an Ibo boy, who came to Mauritania. He had been to Mauritania four times in two years. To preach in Mauritania is punishable by death, by beheading. I said “what job were you doing to survive?”

He said he bought a taxi – a horse. He was using it to raise money to support himself to preach.

When I met him, he was living in an uncompleted house in Kaduna. They had arrested him four times and he was to be killed but this time he was released. The last time he was in an underground cell, open cell with bamboo and palm fronds and everything stacked on top and guards were watching him from above. So he decided to come and learn shoe-making, he wanted to be a cobbler, so he can add to his trade. So, I said, “what will happen, do you want to start making shoes?”

He said, “No”. He’s going back.

I said, “You are going back?”

I’m a Northerner. There’s no relish in going to Mauritania. They still have slaves there. And the guy went back.

If the fire of the spirit of evangelism is not burning in you, you have not seen the end of everything – the lake of Fire.

Stories of Faith - Episode 45

Bill and Elaine Cook shared the following testimony:

Several high-ranking church leaders from Europe, visited a pastor in Hong Kong who took them to visit some churches. 

They found them inspiring, and uniquely Chinese, but they wondered aloud if they were seeing the real church. At their last stop, the pastor discovered that two young women had just returned from their mission station for a short visit, so he asked them to come to the hotel late, to meet the visiting leaders. 

These young ladies had become believers as teenagers while listening to the radio, and they each had felt the call to be a missionary. The pastor had tried to convince them to witness right where they were but they said, “No. The Bible says Jesus said to go into all the world. We will go.”

The pastor protested, “You have only been Christians for six months, and you are so young.” They replied, “Pastor, we have read everything Jesus said and nowhere does He ask people how old they are. We want to go.” The pastor replied, “Very well. We need some workers on Hainan Island. But it is very rough. The people there are fishermen. There are no Christians there. For young ladies it might be dangerous.” Excitedly they responded, “How soon can we go? We will go to this place.” 

They had been there for two years and were now back for a short period of time to try to get Bibles for their new churches. The pastor had not seen them since they insisted that they “go now!”

The pastor went to the lobby that night at the appointed time and waited for the ladies to arrive so he could escort them to meet the visitors. While he waited, he watched the bellboys in their crisp, tailored uniforms, and the tourists who attempted to be casual in their designer clothes. “Oh, no!” he thought, as the girls walked in. Their black pajamas and broad-brimmed fishermen hats stood in stark contrast to the appearance of the sophisticated hotel. 

Tourists ogled them with that “how quaint” look so often directed to nationals. Several people stood staring as he greeted them as politely as possible without drawing too much attention. “Come, we will go to my room to meet some people from Europe.” The women looked at each other, then apprehensively followed behind, looking down at their bare feet sinking into the carpet. They attempted to step more lightly, as though they were afraid they would sink into this beautifully colored “mud.” 

The pastor pushed the elevator button, keeping his head down and afraid to watch any of the many eyes staring in his direction. The elevator arrived and the door slid open, and the women greeted it with a look of astonishment.

Several tourists smiled at them as they stepped on. There were more “how quaint” looks. The elevator operator pretended not to notice his passengers as he asked for the floor number. The women’s wonder changed to fear as the doors closed and their first elevator ride began to ascend! Once in the room, the two European church officials graciously greeted them and motioned for them to sit down. The pastor pulled chairs toward them, so they would not sit on the floor.

The European brethren began, “Pastor, ask them how many churches they have established on Hainan.” They put their heads down and answered, “Oh, Pastor, we have only been there two years. Not many. Not very many.” Their voices were apologetic. “How many?” “Oh, not many, not very many. We have only been there a short time. The people were not very friendly. Sometimes they became very vicious. Yes, sometimes they told us they were going to drown us in the ocean. Several men threatened us. Oh, my, and because we were so young, even some of the ladies did not like us. Yes, some even called us terrible names…so, not many churches…no, not many.” The pastor interrupted and slowly repeated the words, “H-o-w m-a-n-y?” 

There was a moment of silence, then one of the women looked up with embarrassment and anguish, as though confessing to a crime, “Only thirteen.”

The pastor looked astonished and interpreted for the guests. “Thirteen.” One of them repeated the number, “Only thirteen! Oh, my, goodness, I haven’t planted that many churches in my lifetime!” One of the pastor’s assistants interrupted, *“No, Pastor, she did not say thirteen, she said thirty!”* The pastor looked at them and asked, “Thirty?” “Yes, yes, not many. We have done very poorly. Only thirty.” “How many people are in the churches?” Again both heads went down, apologizing for their failure. “Not many.” Finally, the pastor looked like he was ready to shake them and practically yelled, “How many?” “Only two hundred and twenty people. Not many, no…not many.” 

Quickly multiplying in his head, the pastor said, “Two hundred and twenty in thirty churches?” “Oh, no, in only one, but that one is a very small church, very small. There are bigger ones…” The guests repeated the numbers, “Two hundred and twenty is small? Dear Lord, I wish I had some that large. Ask them how many are in the big churches.” With a more reverent manner the pastor inquired, “And how many in the big churches? I mean, the biggest one?” They began again, “Oh, not many…” when he asked them, “Please, ladies, how many?” “Oh, less than 5000. Only 4,900. Yes, less than 5000. We have just started.” From behind the pastor came the sound of weeping. “Dear Lord, forgive us! What did they do? How did they do it? Ask them what they did!” 

When asked, they looked astonished. “What did we do? Why, nothing. Yes, we did nothing, nothing.” “You did nothing? You have thirty churches; the smallest with two hundred and twenty people, the largest with almost five thousand new believers! And you did nothing?”

“No, nothing. We just prayed.”

“I know you prayed, but what else did you do?”

“After we prayed, the Holy Spirit would tell us exactly what to do. We would keep praying and He would tell us what to do, and we would do it. Then we prayed and then He would tell us what to do. We would do it and keep praying…”

“Dear Lord, they just prayed and the Holy Spirit told them exactly what to do and they prayed…”

The pastor laid his hands on the shoulders of the two sisters. Behind him his two guests, on their knees, weeping, joined as they just prayed. 

This year and going forward...if Jesus is Lord in your life... just pray and obey the Holy Spirit